


look out, sunshine!

by tinygumdrops (curryramyeon)



Series: call out my name (i'll come running) [1]
Category: Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: First Dates, Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-05
Updated: 2018-06-05
Packaged: 2019-05-18 13:44:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14853896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/curryramyeon/pseuds/tinygumdrops
Summary: "So... let's figure this out.""Figure this out."Seongwu nods. "Right. So. What I'm trying to say is... maybe we can go out on a date?"Daniel can't believe what he's hearing. "A date?" he says again, like an idiot.- Daniel, Seongwu, three skewers ofdakkochi, and a date on the side of a hill





	look out, sunshine!

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sciences](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sciences/gifts).



> for s, and her freakish enthusiasm for this pairing.
> 
> hope you'll all enjoy!

~O~

 

 

"I like you."

"Hmm? What?"

"I—I like you, sunbae."

Seongwu pauses for a long, excruciating minute.

And then— "What? Like a... like a Valentine's Day kind of like?"

"Yeah."

"What, _really_?"

"Yeah."

Seongwu narrows his eyes. "You're not jerking me around, are you?" he says.

Daniel shakes his head fiercely, cheeks coloring.

"Oh." Seongwu stares at Daniel, looking stumped. "I didn't realize..."

Daniel stares back at him skeptically. Knowing how his sunbae is, Seongwu's probably just sparing his feelings. He must be an expert by now, given how popular he is here in university. 

Either way, it's a lost cause. Every single one of Daniel's friends say that his crush is so apparent, aliens from outer space can see it. Perhaps it wouldn't have made a difference whether he confessed or not.

It never really hurt Daniel before, though, to be upfront about something. With Seongwu graduating in only a few months, he thought he might as well.

"Sorry if I said so out of the blue. But it's true," Daniel perseveres. "I mean, I _do_ like you."

"For real?"

"Um. Yeah. For real."

"Oh," Seongwu says again. "So, is that why you bought me my favorite milk box and a grilled pork rice bowl?" He points at the take-out bag and laughs stiltedly. "Are you trying to soften me up?"

"I—" _Yes_. "... yeah, I guess."

Seongwu throws him a quick grin before sobering. He turns to the bag of take-out and then to Daniel with a thoughtful expression.

"Let's stretch, yeah?" Seongwu says.

On reflex, Daniel agrees. He sits in front of Seongwu, legs splayed, and reaches out to hold Seongwu by the elbows. Together, they bend their torsos to the left, counting from one to sixteen, and then to the right. Afterwards, Seongwu stands up and presses his weight on Daniel's back. When it's Seongwu's turn, Daniel makes sure not to squeeze down too hard on Seongwu's spine.

They repeat the sequence for three more times in relative silence. Their sweat drips on the vinyl flooring. 

"Hey, Niel."

Daniel turns to him cautiously.

Seongwu's gaze is on the floor, his fingers fiddling with the hem of his black, cotton shirt. "Since when did you start liking me?"

That's an easy question. "When we first practiced dancing together on the troupe for the foundation day festival."

Seongwu whips his neck to Daniel's direction, fast. "That was way back," he says.

Daniel shrugs.

Seongwu frowns, pondering something again. He looks at Daniel with another incomprehensible expression.  

Daniel begins after a beat of silence, "You don't want to walk home with me anymore, do you?" 

Seongwu grimaces. "Don't make assumptions." 

Daniel stares at him helplessly.  

Seongwu nods and shakes his arms. "Let's go home," he finally says.

  

 

...

 

 

The low sun casts big and long shadows along the road, and the houses bordering the street are large enough to block out the wind. In consequence, the walk home is almost eerie and noiseless save for their footsteps, their deep, hushed breaths, and Daniel's frantic heart beating against his rib cage.

They pass by a pastry stall, the aroma of _gukhwappang_ filling the thin air. Daniel's stomach starts to whine even though he'd already demolished a bag of corn chips thirty minutes ago. He doesn't think it would be prudent to have them take a detour again just so he could stuff himself a few minutes before dinnertime. He manages to ignore the urge by the skin of his teeth.

"Niel?" Seongwu says, all of a sudden.

"Yeah?"

"You don't want to buy _gukhwappang_?"

Daniel laughs at himself. He's being read like an open book again. "I'm good, I'm good," he says.

Seongwu glances at him sidelong. "If you're sure," he mumbles.

Daniel chuckles again and—stops himself from loping an arm around Seongwu's shoulders. Right. He's not supposed to be so touchy with the guy he just confessed to so soon. _Keep it chill._ His hand falls to his side lamely. 

They're at the junction where Seongwu's and Daniel's paths diverge when Seongwu halts from walking. 

When Seongwu turns to look at him, with one side of his face bathed in the soft, orange glow of the sunset, Daniel's heartbeat goes unsteady again.

_Here it comes._

"I'm... I'm not sure if I like you that way," Seongwu says, his face looking pinched.

Daniel's stomach drops. "Oh. No, jeez, it's fine... yeah. It's just me," he manages to croak out. "I wasn't expecting you to. I was just—"

"Wait," Seongwu cuts in. "Can you, um. Can you hear me out for a sec?"

Daniel nods, steeling himself. 

"Like I said, I'm not sure if I like you the same way you like me," Seongwu says. "But listen, Niel... now that I'm thinking about us being together, I don't—I don't dislike it exactly."

"Don't dislike it," Daniel repeats under his breath.

"Yeah," Seongwu says. "So... let's figure this out."

"Figure this out."

Seongwu nods. "Right. So. What I'm trying to say is... maybe we can go out on a date?"

Daniel can't believe what he's hearing. "A date?" he says again, like an idiot.

"Yes," Seongwu says. "If you want to—"

"I do."

Seongwu blinks. Even with only little sunlight serving as illumination, Daniel can see that the tips of Seongwu's ears are red.

"That's—that's good, then," Seongwu says, rubbing his nose and sniffing. "We can try it out, right? A date. I mean, we're sort of adults already, so like, let's be mature about this. And it's all good. Right? I'm twenty-three and you're just one measly year younger—heck, you can swig down five bottles of _soju_  like it's nobody's business, so—"

Daniel laughs out loud. He can't help it; he feels weightless. He says, "If you want a free trial soon, I'm cool with tomorrow."

Seongwu's answering smile is shy. "Spoken like a true software engineer," he observes. "I might have something to do the next day, but it probably won't take long. I'll text you."

"Alright."

Seongwu's head bobs. "One date," he says.

"One," Daniel agrees easily. It's more than he asked for. He dumps his hands in his jean pockets. 

"And then, well. Whatever happens."

"Best of friends," Daniel pledges. "Always."

"It's science," Seongwu promises back.

Daniel's cheeks start to hurt from all the smiling he's doing. It's sort of a relief to have fallen for a guy like Seongwu. No matter how confident, charismatic, and sometimes intimidating he is on stage, Daniel knows that Seongwu can be like this too: fidgety, unsure, but still willing to give things a shot. It's one of the many traits Daniel admires so much about him.

"I'll text you," Seongwu says again afterwards, bidding him goodbye.

"Not if I text you first," Daniel blurts, waving back.

Seongwu blushes and laughs. "I'm putting myself in a world of trouble, aren't I?" Daniel hears him mutter to himself as he turns away.

Daniel watches Seongwu's figure disappear before he bounds to the other side of the road.

  

 

~O~

 

 

 

When Daniel wakes up the next day, the weather is suspiciously bright and cloudless that he feels something's off. Sure enough, when he checks his phone, Seongwu's reply to his text message last night is an apologetic, _I might have to take a raincheck. Is sunday noon alright with you?_  

Daniel sighs. At least he has one extra day to prepare. 

 _No problem!!!_ Daniel types, sighing once more. _Whenever you're free sunbae! :)_

When he settles back to bed, he feels too keyed up to fall back asleep. After half an hour of tossing and turning over his sheets and sending kangaroo memes to his buddies, he fishes out a grey hoodie from his pile of used clothes and heads downstairs to the kitchen. 

"Good morning!" Daniel's mother greets him by the stairwell. She has her scrubs on one arm, freshly washed and dried. "You heading out already? The keys are by the fruit basket!"

"No." Daniel reaches out for the stash of sour berry blast he keeps in one of the low cabinets. "I'm—uhh. I'm just going to stay home."

His mother regards him. "Date won't push through today?" she says. "So early in the morning and you're already eating candy." She then tuts.

Daniel chuckles under his breath. "I'm not so sad about it, Mom," he assures her as he chews. "We'll go out tomorrow. S'not so bad."

"I know a moping puppy when I see one," his mother says. "Eat a proper breakfast, my sweet, and get some fresh air. Nurse's orders." She goes over to the dining table and presses a kiss on Daniel’s temple.

"I might have some homework to do," Daniel says vaguely. "Finish a project or something."

"Nice try. When you asked my permission if you could go out today, you said you don't have any homework left to do. Which one’s the lie?"

Which one indeed. "I'll... go somewhere then."

His mother's smile of victory is huge. "You know how much I hate seeing you hunched over your laptop and phone all day, Daniel. Go outside. You might think of something to do for your date tomorrow." She takes away Daniel's half-eaten piece of sour belt and replaces it with a plate of omurice.

"Yes, yes," Daniel relents, tapping his chopsticks on the table. 

His mother smiles. "Some days I'm not so sure if I'm actually raising a college student or a toddler," she says fondly.

 

 

...

 

 

 

Daniel has no destination in mind when he goes out of the front door, and so he ventures. The road from their house slopes down; he keeps his gaze on the gravel and minds the potholes. He wonders where he'll go. On days like this one, he'll usually go to the arcade or the novelty store, but today he'll have to take a pass. He kept only a few thousand won in his wallet so he wouldn't be tempted to spend so much, not when he still has to see Seongwu tomorrow.

Daniel worries. What _should_ they do for a date, anyway? 

He thinks back on all the things he and Seongwu did together, recalls if any of them stood out in some way or another. He tries to remember whether they had the most fun in a particular activity.

After a while, he deems it useless to decide by himself—anything he does with Seongwu has always been great for him, filling Daniel with inexplicable warmth and happiness, even at the most mundane of things. They could be feasting on soba noodles in the dance hall or riding the subway. As long as Seongwu's there, Daniel doesn't seem to have any preference.

He'll just have to toss it out to Seongwu and have the senior make the last call. Daniel wonders if any of his suggestions would be date-appropriate.

He sighs inwardly. He should've asked his mother when he had the chance. 

Daniel spots a _dakkochi_ shop, newly opened. He orders three sticks and sits on a wooden table. From his vantage point, Daniel can see a couple dining at the far side of the shop. They seem to be around Daniel's age. The girl with thick, long hair has her arm around her boyfriend's as he playfully feeds her a piece of grilled chicken.

Daniel hides his face under his hoodie and finishes his snack in a few gulps.

He ducks out of the store. He stayed inside for only nine minutes. He has nowhere to go again. 

Daniel takes out his phone and searches for any place he could spend the rest of the day in. There's a bookstore down at Haengsin street—it's not so far from his house or Seongwu's. He brightens considerably. Maybe he could take Seongwu there tomorrow. There's also a riverbank close by, a fifteen-minute walk at most, where he and Seongwu could possibly hang around if they didn’t feel like walking too far. 

Apparently, there's also a Buddhist shrine in Daedeok-dong, up ahead. Unsurprisingly, Daniel hasn't been there before. With his course load and all the competitive dancing he does, he hasn't had the chance to explore much of the neighborhood, ever since he moved here from Busan three years ago for his mom's work. He'd rather spend his precious days-off at home, besides, curled up in bed with his cats and playing _Darkest Dungeon_ on his tablet.

Daniel pockets his phone. A shrine sounds promising enough. Maybe, if he prays hard enough, the gods would favor him tomorrow, and all would go as well as he hoped.

If it didn't work out—if Seongwu wouldn't think of Daniel as someone he'd like to be with intimately, then Daniel would have no choice but to give up. It'd be the right thing to do. It would probably take Daniel a long time to get over him—after all, his crush wouldn't have lasted for three years if it wasn't that strong. But it's not like things would stay the same forever.

Well. Hopefully.

 

 

...

 

 

As the shrine is up a hilly terrain, Daniel has to climb one hundred and sixty-two steps to get to the top. By the time he hits eighty-seven, he's heaving. He sits on a rock outlining the path, catching his breath for a minute, before he sets about walking again.

He can feel the temperature dropping slightly as he goes higher, the wind whistling against his ears. When he makes it to the top, he immediately lets out a loud, exultant exhale.

That had been more tiring than he thought. At least his mom won't complain that he did nothing substantial all day.

Daniel starts to stroll around the shrine. Near the entrance, there's a sparrow bathing in a ceremonial wash basin made out of clay. The sight makes him chuckle for some reason. "Hello," he whispers to it as he passes.

When he gets to the shrine keeper's office, he locks eyes with a very familiar face.

"What are you doing here?" Seongwu exclaims, aghast.

Daniel looks him up and down. "What are you wearing, sunbae?" he throws back. He takes in the sight of silk pants and satin cuffs, and adds, "Is that a _hanbok_?"

Seongwu's expression morphs into that of pure embarrassment. "I can explain."

 

 

...

 

 

 

Seongwu says he only does it on weekends, when he's not too swamped with school. His parents thought it was a great idea to keep the years of tradition alive in him.

"So you know how to dance an _iimu_?"

 "Yep."

 "A _songsin_?"

 "Yep."

 "With the cymbals and everything?"

 "And _pakpu_ s. You know. The traditional ones." Seongwu mimes the action of hitting two small drums at the same time, smacking his lips repeatedly to make a similar sound. 

 Daniel's mouth opens slightly. "And you teach all these ritual dances to the kids?"

 "From ages eight to fourteen," Seongwu mutters, ducking his head and placing his hands over his nape. "I'm not getting paid to do it, since it's not exactly something that's—you know. It's just customary."

 "Woah," Daniel says. "So, is your dad, like, a monk or something?"

 Seongwu peeks at him through his fringe. "My grandfather is," he says. "They're from a line of dedicated shrine keepers."

 Daniel nods slowly. "That's amazing."

 "Is it?" Seongwu says, lifting his head completely and watching him.

 "Yeah!" Daniel says, laughing afterwards. "Honestly, you look really good in a _hanbok_ and that weird headdress. It's kind of unfair." He makes a cup with his hands and sways wildly. "So, is this how you do a wine dance?" he says. 

Seongwu bursts into laughter, like he can't help it. "What the hell is that? No, jeez." He holds out his hands up high. "You gotta move your body like this." He does a circular motion with his arms and instructs Daniel to do the same. "No, wait—not like that!" he exclaims, laughing again. "You're doing a pretty bad impression of a windmill, Kang Daniel-ssi."

Daniel stops from gyrating his arms. "I think I might have to enroll in one of your classes, sunbae."

"Now that wouldn't be weird, would it?" Seongwu says, grinning.

"You know what's weird? The fact that you're all the way up here," Daniel points out. "There's a hundred and sixty-two steps to get to this side of the hill—I know because I counted."

"How diligent of you." Seongwu snorts. "I started climbing at five in the morning so I could get here at exactly eight."

Daniel pauses. "You know, I'm not even sure if you're kidding or not."

Seongwu winks at him.

After a long silence, Daniel says, "So, why did you not go for the traditional track?" 

"It's obvious, isn't it?" Seongwu says as he splays his legs wide across the steps. "I wanted to try something different. I've been dancing traditional all my life—since I was five I've been in all sorts of ceremonial rites, and I know all the offering songs so well I could dance them while I'm asleep." He exhales tiredly. "I think I broke my granddad's heart when I took modern dance as my major. But he's fine with it now, I guess. It's been four years." 

"You're good at what you do, sunbae, whether it's traditional or modern," Daniel says. "I don't think it matters so much as long as you like doing it."

"Yeah. Thanks."

"Can I watch you in one of your shows in the next festival?"

"I'll be in a mask, Niel. And there'll be four of us."

"You think I wouldn't be able to tell?"

Seongwu's lips curve upwards as he eyes Daniel rather bashfully. "Why are you here anyway?" he says. "Are you stalking me, hoobae?"

"Er—my mom kicked me out of the house because I was—" _Moping._ "Um, mucking around."

Seongwu waggles his eyebrows. "Already lonely without me?" he teases.

"Yeah.”

Seongwu looks taken aback for a moment. He chews on the inside of his cheek. "You know, you're supposed to deny that," he mutters. "That's, um, I think that's how this works."

"Oh," Daniel says.

"So, anyway, your mom kicked you out of the house. And then you just decided to go up to see a shrine?"

Daniel rubs his neck. "No. I actually just strolled around the neighborhood... there's this new _dakkochi_  shop so I tried that... and then I looked up some places where I could go on my phone and so, here I am."

"You're so random." Seongwu shakes his head in amusement. "You came to pray for something?"

Daniel hesitates. Should he deny this too? "I wanted to ask the gods for good luck,” he admits. “That our date would go well."

Seongwu's eyes widen a fraction.

"And, well. I'd ask them to have you fall in love with me too."

Seongwu's lips thin, and his face reddens. "So, this is how Kang Daniel woos people," he says. He stands up from the steps and brushes the dirt off his pants. "You're really laying it on thick."

Daniel stands up and joins him. "Is it working?" he says.

Seongwu laughs and shakes his head. "World of trouble," he mumbles as he heads to the back of the shrine office building.

Daniel follows him, as he always has.

Seongwu opens the door to a rickety shed and goes inside. He then says, voice echoing, "Sorry for cancelling. I really wanted to go out with you today, but my mom called me this morning and told me there were kids coming in for a lesson."

Daniel inches to the doorway. "That's alright," he calls back.

There's a long pause. "She also said they needed an extra hand for something—s'why I told you it'd be better if we went out tomorrow. Well..."

"Yeah?"

After a loud, clanging noise and a rough rustle of something, Seongwu comes out with a sack, a bucket and a dustpan. "You think you can help me out a little today?" Seongwu says, out of breath.

"Oh, sure," Daniel says immediately. He hurries to take the sack and bucket from Seongwu's hands. "What are we going to do?"

Seongwu gestures with his whole body, making an exaggerated sweeping motion with both of his arms. It makes Daniel cackle.

"Some spring cleaning!" Seongwu chirps.

"That's one large broomstick," Daniel says as Seongwu hands it to him.

Seongwu smiles wickedly. "One large stick for the big guy."

Daniel inadvertently blushes at the coyness in Seongwu's tone. "What are we going to clean?" he asks.

"The shrine grounds."

Daniel makes an 'o' with his mouth. This place is not exactly small, by any means.

"Is it okay?"

"Yes, of course," Daniel says. Thinking of something, he then laughs. "Is this a test? Is this Ong Seongwu's way of knowing whether a person's serious in him or not?" he teases.

"Hell, no. People don't even know I volunteer in this place," Seongwu says. He scratches his chin absently. "I was thinking, more like—if we finish early, we can go do something together. Hang out in the mall, see a movie. Grab some dinner. You know?"

Daniel feels warm all over. "That does sound like a good idea."

"I'm the king of good ideas," Seongwu says solemnly.

 

 

...

 

 

 

After Seongwu changes from his ceremonial clothing to his regular street clothes, they set to work. With his broom, Daniel sweeps across the paths, while Seongwu wipes the planks and signposts clean from bird droppings with wet rags. 

It's only spring, but many leaves have fallen to the ground. Some fell in between the cracks in the pavement—they’re harder to take out. Daniel has to bend down on his knees and pick them out, a few at a time. He piles them up like a molehill before dumping the leaves in the big sack. 

They get to the open area in the shrine where they hold wedding ceremonies. Seongwu teaches him the dance for prosperity, and they laugh so hard as they circle each other before the altar. Seongwu does a great impression of a _haegeum_ and Daniel tries to make _buk_ sounds, as they jump from side to side and land on the ground with one foot.

Laughing breathlessly, Daniel wonders at how things have all lead up to here. Three years ago, when he was struck by the epiphany that he'd stumbled into a tragic, one-sided love with his best friend, he hadn't at all thought that someday he'd be able to muster up the courage to confess his feelings, and that said feelings wouldn't end up being ignored. He's endlessly grateful for this, grateful for Ong Seongwu, most especially.

Daniel knows now that if he would ever be asked to give up on his feelings, it'd hurt ten times more than a simple rejection would. He'd be absolutely devastated.

"You sound terrible!" Seongwu says, head thrown back in laughter. Some of his hair sticks out weirdly at one side, probably from the remnants of hair gel he had to use for the headdress. His pointy canine teeth jut out when he grins, his eyes gleaming in the afternoon sunlight.

Daniel's chest fills up, just like that.

 _I like you so much_ , Daniel thinks.

 

 

...

 

 

 

They finish cleaning by six thirty and Seongwu's other volunteer duties by eight. They're too tired to move about, and so they settle for splaying themselves on top of a large, wooden platform bench overlooking the city landscape. From the gaps between the trees, they've got a good view of the night sky. The stars twinkle faintly.

"I'm sorry we took such a long time," Seongwu says after a while.

"No, don't worry about it. It's fine," Daniel says, stifling a yawn. "What if I wasn't there, you know? You probably still wouldn't be done right now."

"Yeah." Seongwu sighs. "Thank you."

Daniel glances at him. "It's really no problem at all. You didn't trouble me." He lightly slaps Seongwu's shoulder in reassurance.

"Yeah, well. I was sort of hoping we could do something different today."

Daniel silently agrees. His brain brings up images of bookstores and riverside walks he envisioned earlier.

As if reading his mind, Seongwu says, "Hey, Niel, where were you planning to take me today?"

"There's a bookstore downtown, only a few meters away from the riverside," Daniel says in a daze. "Then I would've taken you to eat wherever you'd like." He pauses, and adds, "Or maybe to that new _dakkochi_  place."

"Was it good?"

"Yeah."

"Are you hungry right now?"

"I am," Daniel confesses. "But I don't have the will to move right now."

"Me neither."

"Maybe we could have food delivered here. You want _jokbal_  and beer?"

Seongwu laughs softly, one hand hiding his eyes. "We have that together a lot, don't we?" he mumbles, his voice sounding strangely constricted. "We can't drink here, though."

"Oh. Alright."

Seongwu removes his hand and peers at Daniel. "I had fun today," he says. "With you."

For some weird reason, Daniel can't meet Seongwu's stare. He looks down on his hands instead. "Me too," he whispers.

Seongwu then says, out of the blue, "I would've taken you to the riverside too. Maybe a picnic or something like that. Then we'll raid all the street carts—I think there are many stalls selling fish cakes this time of the year."

Daniel smiles wider. "You're making me hungrier, sunbae."

"And I'd probably drag you to see a gig with me in Hongdae." Seongwu shrugs. "Not sure if you're into that."

"Anything's fine," Daniel admits, and he could feel Seongwu's eyes on him again, skin prickling at the scrutiny. "I was kind of worried for most of the day, thinking about where I should take you. I couldn't decide because I don’t… I don’t exactly have a preference."

"Really?" Seongwu says, nose wrinkling as he laughs after. "No preferences?"

"Yeah, definitely. I mean, as long as we do stuff together, I don't really..." Daniel chuckles lamely, embarrassed in disclosing his dismal proficiency in romance. "And, well. I hadn't really anticipated that you'd want to go on a date with me, so."

They go quiet for a moment.

Seongwu sits up suddenly. In confusion, Daniel imitates him.

Seongwu turns to face him. His dark hair and eyes shine under the moonlight. "Is that _dakkochi_ place still open?"

"I think so," Daniel muses.

Seongwu nudges his knee. "Let's eat then before we go home. I'll treat you."

Daniel pushes himself off the bench. "Alright." He slows his pace to stall, not wanting this night to end just yet.

They're at the foot of the shrine hill when Seongwu decides, "After Sunday, let's have one more date." He peeks at Daniel at the corner of his eye. Gauging his reaction, perhaps.

Daniel can't stop the huge smile that surfaces, threatening to split his face in half. A bright feeling bubbles in his chest, a beginning of something.

Daniel nods. “One more,” he whispers.

 

 

~Fin~


End file.
